Santorum’s real weakness is the economy

Commentary: Lackluster agenda undermines GOP

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — After failing to defeat Mitt Romney in his home state of Michigan, Rick Santorum is now pinning his hopes on the Ohio primary next week to become the standard-bearer for the working class.

Realizing he may have gone a bridge or two too far on social issues during his campaign for the Michigan primary this week, the former Pennsylvania senator indicated Tuesday night he would be re-focusing his message, and spent much of his speech recapping his economic agenda.

Santorum spelled out his 10-point economic plan this week in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. The problem is that his program offers so little new that it reads like something from an off-the-shelf campaign kit for Republican candidates, trotting out the tired old nostrums of lower taxes and deregulation. Read Santorum’s op-ed in the Journal.

Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum

Santorum offers no evidence that taxes and regulation are hurting the economy. Voters might accept this as an article of Republican faith if the economy were spiraling downwards, but the newest data revised fourth-quarter growth upwards and the economy seems to be on a good track.

The millions who remain unemployed or in homes facing foreclosure are not on such a good track, but neither Santorum nor Romney are offering any specific solutions for those people.

Taken aback by Santorum’s surge in his own backyard, Romney regained his footing on economic issues shortly before the vote, talking up his business expertise and calling Santorum “an economic lightweight.”

But Santorum correctly observed in his op-ed that Romney is following his lead in lowering individual and corporate tax rates (to the extent that the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget observed that both candidates would add trillions to the national debt with their proposed plans).

Romney and Santorum gear up for Super Tuesday

(5:43)

WSJ's Neil King joins the News Hub for a full recap of Tuesday's Michigan and Arizona primaries, and looks ahead to next week's important Super Tuesday races. Photos: Getty Images

As the contest now moves to Ohio and nine other states for Super Tuesday next week, Santorum’s economic prescriptions are less than compelling. Yet they are sufficient to expose the lack of any specific prescriptions in Romney’s plan and undermine the Republican effort to make the economy a big campaign issue.

A quick look at Santorum’s 10-point agenda:

• Unleash America’s energy. Santorum joins the harping about the Keystone pipeline, which in reality creates few permanent jobs. President Barack Obama has preempted the energy card with his call in the State of the Union speech to exploit the nation’s energy resources and use “all of the above.”

• Stop job-killing regulation. In the absence of any evidence, this sounds like Republican cant.

• A pro-growth, pro-family tax policy. Santorum’s plan to cut taxes to a top rate of 28% would add $4.6 trillion to the federal debt over 10 years, according to the CRFB.

• Restore America’s competitiveness. Santorum wants to halve the corporate tax rate to 17.5%, but the economic impetus from cutting the corporate tax rate is disputed. Oddly enough, Santorum doesn’t mention in the Journal article one of the few distinctive policies he espouses — reducing taxes on manufacturing companies to zero.

• Rein in spending. Santorum’s famous $5 trillion in spending cuts over five years are easier said than done. He needs to tell us which cuts he’ll make before we can believe him.

• Repeal and replace ObamaCare. With the law already well along in implementation, that would be harder than it looks.

• Balance the budget. Bad idea, bad policy. How can you call for a balanced-budget amendment and plan to add trillions of dollars to the debt in the same program?

• Negotiate and submit free trade agreements. Bilateral “free trade” agreements undermine multilateral efforts at free trade, which try to create a level playing ground globally. They are hardly a cure-all for exports.

• Reform entitlements. Santorum wants to cut means-tested entitlements by 10%. Does it really make sense to cut aid to the poor instead of raising taxes on the rich? He also talks vaguely about reforming Medicare and Social Security “so they are fiscally sustainable for seniors and young people.” Whatever can that mean?

• Revive housing. Santorum wants to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal housing role without explaining how that solves the current housing crisis. For some reason, he includes reform of the Federal Reserve in this category.

Perhaps the eventual nominee will be able to craft more specific policies, but Santorum will have trouble winning voters with this lineup.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.